Characterized by the accompaniment of the kopuz, a stringed musical instrument, the classical repertoire of Azerbaijani Ashiqs includes 200 songs, 150 literary-musical compositions known as dastans, nearly 2,000 poems, and numerous stories.

Ashiq Basti (1836–1936), is one of the most outstanding female representatives of the art of Ashig in nineteenth century Azerbaijan. She was born in the Loh village of the Kalbajar region.

Ashiq is the main lyrical hero and the main person in the art of ashiqs. He has a talent to compose verses instantly. Ashiq art embraces literary expression and with this it creates a bridge between oral, written and folk literature.

Ashiq art and mugham are the two important foundations of the musical culture of Azerbaijan. The art of ashiqs has its origin deep in the national culture and has bright characteristics, as well as a variety of themes and structural framework.

Ashiq Qarib (Azerbaijani: Aşıq Qərib, literally "the wandering ashik ") is an anonymous romantic dastan, composed not earlier than the 16—17th centuries and popular in Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

Dec 30, 2023 · Ashiq combines several art forms: poetry, dance, drama, and musical improvisation. Ambassador Mehdizade said ashiq captivates the audience with the individuality of the performer, who conveys his personal thoughts and emotions through the music.

The Azerbaijani ashiq belongs to the southwestern stretch of a larger Turkic epic tradition and shares a more musical performance style with Turkish and Turkmen traditions (Reichl 2000, 20). Ashiq dastan integrate songs sung to a variety of melodies with the accompaniment of the saz.

Ashiq art is synthetic, that is, ashig (minstrel) composes music, writes poetry, plays saz and dances simultaneously. And wind instruments ensemble and balaban often accompany ashiq. However, the main instrument of ashig is saz.

The Azerbaijani ashiq belongs to the southwestern stretch of a larger Turkic epic tradition and shares a more musical performance style with Turkish and Turkmen traditions (Reichl 2000, 20).

Ashiqs, in both their literary imagination and in actual practice, have long traversed this geography. Historically, these singer-poets filled the role of both entertainers and bearers of news travelling far and wide, often performing for different audiences in multiple languages.